The University of Memphis needs to keep its promises to the students. We deserve more than this. In 2014, following a unanimous vote of the student senate, the student body voted for a new recreation center and the fee that came with it. This came after assurances were made by the administration that raising fees would guarantee a new center and land bridge. In an email to the campus community, Interim President Brad Martin promised this monument to health and fitness on our campus and land bridge would be built.
For two years, students paid an additional $146 a semester on the promise that this money would pay for a brand spanking new, decked out, top-notch recreation center that contained all the key elements they wanted.
The email our student body received on Sunday morning is disappointing, and I, along with many past and present student leaders, feel betrayed. I stand behind the University of Memphis being financially responsible – there is no reason not to. However, what I do not stand behind is breaking a promise to the student body that has already been well thought out and budgeted for. So far $15 million has been raised of the nearly $63 million that would be used for the new center and the land bridge.
President M. David Rudd’s email on Sunday said, “We will immediately begin limited improvements that will see the (current recreation) facility through the next decade.†That is not what we have been paying for the past two years and that is not what we were promised. Instead of a world-class facility we will instead receive a multi-million dollar Band-Aid.
The University of Memphis will be revisiting its plans for a new recreation center after deciding the current estimate was too expensive, according to a campus-wide email sent out Feb.12 by U of M president M. David Rudd. The email stated that costs for the project ballooned to well over $60M, exceeding the boundaries of the original financial model and that the student fee supporting the land bridge and recreation center has generated well below projections (an estimated $15M.)
Rudd has disrespected the students who paid into this promise by not consulting the student senate first. I am thrilled to hear the land bridge will still be built, but what about the climbing wall, the largest indoor collegiate track in the nation, the numerous basketball courts and sprawling intramural fields? Will the parking garage be built with the money set aside for the recreation center when there is a separate fee approved by the student senate for that?
This new recreation center was going to be the next jewel in this campus’ crown. This building was going to help put the U of M on the map for prospective students. This is the same building that I could not wait to tell my Frosh Camp kids about this summer at NaCoMe. The same building whose plans have been sitting on the current rec center’s welcome desk for six months. The same building that three years’ worth of freshman have been told to look forward to. The same building that three years’ worth of graduating students are upset they will not have a chance to utilize.
This is not about a building or a bridge; this is about not backing out of a promise. It is about reminding school administrators why we have a Student Government Association. This is about standing up against those who would blatantly disregard the student body’s wishes. This is about reminding those in charge that SGA surveys and student voices matter.
Those plans are now in the trash. The new rec center is not the legacy of an SGA party or an Interim President, it is the understanding that Memphis Tigers deserve respect, honesty, and fair bargains. We deserve more.
We are “Driven by Doing†so I’m calling on my fellow students to now make their voices heard. Tweet your opinions about this matter directly to the administration at @UofMemphisPres. This Thursday at 7 p.m. I will be attending the student senate meeting where Rudd will discuss his plan. Please join me and let our entire school know we are not letting this issue go. Feel free to use the hashtag #BuildOurRec on social media to let your voice be heard – let’s get this rec center built!
